Prejudice, “Political Correctness,” and the need for identity politics
Some people blame the Trump victory on identity politics and social justice warriors.
Trans activist Julia Serano argues convincingly that this based on a too simplistic view of prejudice.
Serano writes:
Rather than an all-or-none mindset, prejudice is better described as a spectrum, perhaps something resembling this:
On the far right side of this spectrum, we have people who are fully accepted — these are typically the people who constitute the dominant or majority group(s) in the culture. They are seen as the norm, and their identities are unquestioned and taken for granted.
At the other end of this spectrum are people who are fully stigmatized: They are considered to be abominable, immoral, and/or outright inhuman. Individuals who are stigmatized to this extreme degree may be openly ridiculed, disparaged, rejected, and perhaps even criminalized in the culture, and those who inflict or enable this abuse will probably not feel any guilt or remorse because, in their eyes, the stigmatized individuals “had it coming to them.”
But, as Serano points out, there are various predicaments that exist in between being fully stigmatized and fully accepted. She describes three “stages of acceptance” that can exist in the minds of people in the dominant majority:
- Tolerating a minority group
- Considering a marginalized group as legitimate
- Realization that prejudices against this group are integrated in language, stereotypes, double standards, and systemic biases
Serano adds:
So how do marginalized and minority groups make such progress? How do they convince the general population to relinquish their prejudice and embrace increasing acceptance? Well, they do it by gradually changing social norms.
So we do need identity politics:
You know what: I would *love* to stop talking about being transgender. It would be absolutely wonderful to live in a world where I didn’t have to constantly consider that aspect of my person. But you know what? I don’t have the privilege of not thinking about it, because there are shit-tons of people out there who hate me, harass me, and who wish to criminalize and silence me *because* I’m transgender. “Identity politics” is not an expression of narcissism (as some pundits seem to believe), but rather a form of organized activism to resist those who wish to disempower and disenfranchise us.